


i'm going down with the last breath on my chest

by wyverary



Category: Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Deaf Character, Deaf Wendla, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, POV Second Person, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:59:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8172436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyverary/pseuds/wyverary
Summary: ilse is a pirate captain & wendla is a mermaid & they're trying their best





	

**Author's Note:**

> ugh this is short & has no actual plot but its been in my drafts since at least february so here
> 
> also: wendla is deaf but the singing she does isnt rly based on hearing, its almost like a sixth sense if that makes any sense
> 
> most of the content warnings are only described rly vaguely/briefly i just put them there in case, also the characters besides wendla & ilse are pretty much just mentioned but i didnt wanna leave them out of the tags i wouldve felt bad
> 
> title is from "seasick lullaby" by garrett olson (its 2016 & he still hasnt posted its lyrics)

You feel the disturbance in the waves before you see it. There’s nothing separating you from the ocean. You would let yourself be absorbed by it if you could, and even if you can’t, you still might.

So much running. Would it even matter? The last place you spent more than a day, you woke up with a gun and a glare aimed right at you. There’s nowhere else you can _really_ go. Not forever. So you gaze at the sea.

And you see the splash and you see the glint of sunlight. Reflecting off of scales. Pale blue. Running right into your ship. And you hear your crew shouting, but all you see is brown eyes pleading to you from the green waves. You let yourself fall.

* * *

So there’s a mermaid aboard your ship; a ship for those lost and broken souls. Does Wendla know where she’s brought herself? You know that’s her name; you told her that you’re Ilse, she repaid you. Once you figured she wouldn't hear you, you talked with your hands, and she somehow understood.

You look around and Melchior is curious. Moritz is frightened. Ernst looks slightly sick. God knows where Hanschen is. You feel Her hand grasp yours, in thanks, and suddenly you have to run from the one place you knew you could stay. The one place it’s impossible to run from.

There’s nowhere else to go. You can’t stay in your quarters forever. Captains don’t abandon their ships. Ever. But there’s a beautiful girl on your ship and you can feel your father’s fists on your skin, even now, when you see yourself loving her. You know you can’t run this time. There’s no way to escape the open seas. 

There’s a knock, and you know who it is, and, even now, that she would never hurt you, but the knocks are blows on your skin, nonetheless. Ilse is gone, only a memory trapped in a traumatized shell on the floor of the cabin. She didn’t wait for you to open up; she knew you wouldn’t. And she knew you needed her there. 

The tale about mermaids losing their tails out of the sea is true, and she walked on her legs all the way to where you’re drowning. You feel her hands in your hair, and she sings until your ears are numb and you’re drifting into a slumber. You don’t dream. When the light rises, both of you are wrapped in a quilt from below deck. Her face is in your hair, and her legs are tangled with yours. You dream.

* * *

Weeks of dreaming pass, where you send Hanschen to port to gather supplies while you talk only to her. You watch as she weaves her words with her fingers, with the most pure expressions on her face. 

You fall.

You drown.

She fishes you out and breathes her air into your mouth.

You smile and fill your lungs.

**Author's Note:**

> hey man im not proud of this bye


End file.
